Navajo silversmith – Kim & Pat Messier's Blog

Thunderbird Style

The Patania’s shops in Santa Fe and Tucson were the training ground for a stunning array of Native American silversmiths

This article was originally published in the December 2021/January 2022 issue of Native American Art Magazine. It is an adaptation of Chapter 7 of Legendary Patania Jewelry.

In 1927 Italian immigrant Frank Patania Sr. opened the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe which sold Native American handmade arts and crafts. Patania, a trained goldsmith and fine jewelry designer, had become enamored with Native American jewelry. He quickly turned his talents to designing and fabricating sterling silver and turquoise jewelry inspired by Native designs, developing a new type of Southwest jewelry, termed “Thunderbird style” which combined Mediterranean elegance with traditional Native American materials. He became known for his exquisite craftsmanship and unique jewelry designs which displayed great attention to detail.

As his business grew, Patania required assistance in the workshop and in 1932 hired Charles Begay, a skilled Navajo silversmith. He became the first of many Native Americans to work for the Patanias as silversmiths in the Thunderbird Shop in Santa Fe, and later also in Tucson. Some of these artists remained employed until retirement, while others, after becoming versed in the Thunderbird style, departed to work on their own, carrying with them the influence and inspiration of Patania family designs. Those who carried the Thunderbird style into their own successful careers were Lewis Lomay, Julian Lovato, Jimmie Herald and Harry Sakyesva, whose talents and body of work still resonate long after their passing.

*1940s fabricated sterling silver butterfly pins with detailed stampwork; this butterfly design was only made by the Native American silversmiths working at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.*

Lewis Lomay (Hopi), from Oraibi, enrolled in Santa Fe Indian School about 1932 where he attended the silversmithing class taught by Navajo artist Ambrose Roanhorse. In 1934 Lomay arrived in Santa Fe too late to enroll for the fall term, instead he found employment at the Thunderbird Shop where his friend Waldo Mootzka was working. Mootzka, also from Hopi, was known primarily as a painter but worked for Patania as a silversmith until his death in 1938.

Sterling silver and turquoise pin fabricated in the late 1930s, signed with the Thunderbird Shop mark and L.L., which is Lewis Lomay’s (Hopi) personal hallmark. The inclusion of Lomay’s initials is unusual, typically shop smiths did not apply their personal hallmark to pieces they made while working in the Thunderbird Shop. Courtesy Gloria Dollar, Nila Brown photographer.

Lomay was taught fine jewelry techniques by Frank Patania Sr. and later recalled, “Working with Patania I learned about modern jewelry and how to finish pieces in any metal as perfectly as they did in gold.” After the United States entered World War II, Lomay left the Thunderbird Shop to work in the defense industry. Returning to Santa Fe after the war, Lomay embarked on his own career making jewelry from a studio in his home. He entered pieces in fairs and exhibits and quickly built a reputation as a master of his craft and, by 1947, was winning multiple awards whenever he entered competitions.

Patania influenced design pin and bolo tie made by Lewis Lomay (Hopi), after he was no longer working at the Thunderbird Shop. *Authors’ collection.*

Through the following decades, his jewelry was represented by notable southwest galleries, such as Shop of the Rainbow Man in Santa Fe. His jewelry reflected the influence of the designs he absorbed from his years working at the Thunderbird Shop; his pieces were carefully and painstakingly made with a fresh and imaginative beauty. Throughout his career, Lomay combined traditional Hopi designs with new ideas and modern techniques in silver and gold.

Lewis Lomay (Hopi) created this floral spray pin with turquoise and coral settings. He gained experience making this type of design from working with Frank Patania Sr. at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Julian Lovato was born at Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) in 1925 into a family of jewelry makers and as a child he observed his father and grandfather create silver and turquoise jewelry. In his teens he started making jewelry on his own, but enlisted in the Army in 1944 and served in the Philippines during World War II. Upon returning to New Mexico, he married Marie Oyengue of San Juan Pueblo in 1946 and the couple moved to Santa Fe.

Lovato worked as a silversmith in various Santa Fe shops for a number of years, until 1952 when he was hired by Frank Patania Sr. to work in the Thunderbird Shop. Julian was assigned the work bench next to Frank Patania Jr., who later recounted that he learned some soldering techniques from Julian who was already well-trained in Native American traditional designs and techniques when he was hired. Julian easily adapted to working in the Thunderbird style.

Sterling silver and turquoise belt buckle and monogrammed letter opener by Julian Lovato (Kewa Pueblo). Lovato’s clean, elegant creations were influenced by designs he worked with at the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.

Patania Sr. introduced Lovato to new techniques and modern jewelry designs that influenced his career, also teaching him to initially sketch his ideas on paper. Lovato worked all day in the shop and then during the evening at home he spent hours in his own workshop, refining his talent. He had become the Santa Fe shop’s chief silversmith when Frank Patania Sr. passed away in 1964.

When the Patania family closed the Santa Fe shop at the end of 1964, manager John Wheeler bestowed the Santa Fe Thunderbird Shop hallmark die upon Lovato, and Patania’s widow Aurora gave him permission to use the stamp on his work. Julian Lovato became known as “Keeper of the Thunderbird,” and was proud to be able to incorporate that mark with his own hallmark.

No one was better at adapting Patania designs and making them uniquely theirs than was Julian Lovato (Kewa Pueblo). This coral and silver necklace and earring set exemplifies the best of Lovato’s designs. The pendant hangs from one of Marie Lovato’s dot-and-dash chains. Courtesy White collection.

In 1991 Lovato recalled, “Frank Patania was just like a father. That’s where I began to get the idea that if I concentrate and work hard, I can do it. He helped me develop into what I do.” Lovato moved back to Santo Domingo Pueblo and worked on his own, creating his own unique jewelry designs and built a very successful career.

Lovato’s contemporary style utilized clean, elegant lines with layers of materials that he referred to as “raised” or “dimensional,” a technique he learned from Frank Patania Sr. He designed his pieces around the shape of the setting and was able to work the bezel in such a way that the gemstone or coral settings appeared to float above the surface of the piece. His wife Marie worked with him, and while Julian designed and fashioned the jewelry, she did some of the more intricate finishing of pieces. Marie was also well known for her modern design dot-and-dash necklace chains, adapted from a Patania design.

Harry Sakyesva, born in 1922 at the Hopi village of Hotevilla, was hired by Frank Patania Sr. in 1952 to work as a silversmith in the Thunderbird Shop. Prior to that he graduated from Santa Fe Indian School and received treatment in an Albuquerque sanatorium between 1941 and 1945 for a lung disease. Afterwards, he moved to Santa Fe where he painted depictions of Hopi life for various galleries.

Harry Sakyesva (Hopi) crafted this bolo tie with the Valley National Bank logo in the 1960s. He would have become experienced in cutting out letters while making monogrammed pieces at the Thunderbird Shop in the 1950s. Authors’ collection.

While employed by the Patanias, Sakyesva’s summers were spent working in the Santa Fe shop. During the winter months he moved to Tucson to work, where he was frequently seated at the bench set up in the display window. Frank Patania Jr. remembers Sakyesva worked for them for five or six years and during that time was in treatment periodically at the Indian Hospital.

After leaving the Thunderbird Shop, Sakyesva relocated to the Phoenix area where he opened his own silver shop in Scottsdale in 1961 with his Hopi friend Morris Robinson, where for a few years they made “fine custom-made Hopi overlay” jewelry. He also made commissioned custom designs that were heavily influenced by monogram work he would have learned from the Patanias.

Jimmie Herald’s employment by the Patania family occurred by chance. He was born into a family of silversmiths in 1914 on the Navajo Reservation near Gallup, New Mexico. He was educated at the government boarding school at Crown Point. Having learned basic silversmithing skills from being around his family, he had no desire to work as a silversmith, but fate intervened.

Herald offered to drive a friend to Tucson in 1938 where he ran out of money before he could return home. Since silversmithing was what he knew, Herald went to the Thunderbird Shop and asked for work. Frank Patania Sr. told him that if he wanted to be a good silversmith, then he would train him; inevitably Jimmie became one of the most valuable silversmiths at the Thunderbird Shop, and was trusted to work on the most important pieces.

Navajo style squash blossom necklace set with Morenci turquoise crafted by Jimmie Herald, Navajo, while working at the Thunderbird Shop in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Patania’s design influence can be seen in the construction of the blossoms. Courtesy Patania collection.

During World War II Jimmie Herald served in the Army, after returning to Tucson in 1945 he married Hazel Enos, a Pima (Akimel O’odham) woman from Sacaton, and they had two children. Jimmie’s older brother Herbert Herald also worked in the Tucson shop in the 1940s and 1950s.

Jimmie later recalled something Frank Patania Sr. said to him, “It’s not how you look or what you are that means your reputation. Let your work speak for you. Always do your best.” Herald kept that thought in mind, endeavoring to always improve his work, and wanting customers to be satisfied.

*Silver and turquoise Bits of Silver design bolo tie made by Jimmie Herald, Navajo, 1970s-80s. The design was originated by Frank Patania Jr. for the Thunderbird Shop. Authors’ collection.*

In the early 1970s Jimmie retired from the Thunderbird Shop, but continued to make some jewelry on his own in his home studio. Most of the designs he used in his personal jewelry were modern and based on those he made while working for the Patanias.

*Daniel Enos Jr., of Pima (Akimel O’odham) descent, was a master silversmith who worked in the Tucson Thunderbird Shop for all three generations of the Patanias. Courtesy Patania archives.*

Daniel Enos Jr., Pima (Akimel O’odham), was the lone Native American silversmith to work for the Patanias who only made jewelry during his time as a Thunderbird employee. He was born on the Gila River Reservation in 1927, attended Presbyterian Indian Training School in Tucson as a youth, then served in the Marines during World War II.

Daniel Enos Jr., Pima (Akimel O’odham), constructed this Patania influenced sterling silver and turquoise squash blossom necklace in the 1970s. This is one the few Thunderbird Shop pieces to exhibit Dan’s personal hallmark along with shop marks. Courtesy Patania collection.

Returning to Tucson after the war, he worked as a heavy equipment driver, wheat combine operator and welder. In 1950 he was persuaded by his brother-in-law, Jimmie Herald, to learn the intricacies of silversmithing. Enos said he would try it for two weeks, and after 42 years with the Thunderbird Shop, he retired in 1992. He was a highly skilled and trusted silversmith who worked continuously in the Thunderbird style for all three generations of Patanias.

The modern designs incorporated within these artist’s creations have influenced subsequent generations of Native American silversmiths, though some may not be aware these styles and techniques originated with Patania family designs born in the Thunderbird Shop.

He Wants to be Called William Goodluck

Cover of Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

The cover of our newest release, Garden of the Gods Trading Post, shows Navajo silversmith William Goodluck and members of his family sitting on the porch of the Trading Post in 1929. The cover utilizes about half of the original postcard as seen in the below image.

Entire image of postcard of William Goodluck and family on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post that was partiallt used on the cover of the book. — Left to right, William Goodluck, son Herbert, daughter Charlotte behind a baby in a cradle board, wife Yekanasbah and daughter Elizabeth.

Goodluck came to work for Charles Strausenback during the time Charles managed “The Indian” trading post. The earliest confirmation of his employment is provided by a postcard postmarked July 16, 1927:

William Goodluck postcard 1927. — This souvenir postcard shows William Goodluck, identified by his Navajo name Host-Nat-Woty, standing near “The Indian” trading post. Mailed July 16, 1927, the sender wrote to Lelah May Hathaway, a former teacher at Carlisle Indian School, “We stopped this morning at the Garden of the Gods and there I met Wm. Goodluck who was once your pupil. He is a silversmith (Navajo). He was quite delighted to see me and told me he had been in your schoolroom. He gave me this picture to send you.”

Providing a clue to the type of jewelry Goodluck may have made while working at “The Indian” could be what he chose to wear while being photographed for the postcard above. The close-up below shows Goodluck’s arm and hand. Note the top bracelet, half hidden by his sleeve, is similar in construction to the top bracelet with the teardrop turquoise setting in the second image below.

Close up of jewelry on the arm of William Goodluck. — *A close-up view of jewelry on William Goodluck’s arm in the postcard above.*

Jewelry made at "The Indian" trading post 1924-1929. — These six silver bracelets were made between 1924 and 1929 at “The Indian” trading post by the Native American silversmiths who worked for Charles Strausenback. The bracelets are hallmarked SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO. The top bracelet is similar in design to one that William Goodluck wore in the photo above, so it is likely that he made that piece.

Beginning in the 1920s, William Goodluck and his family traveled to the Pikes Peak region to work during the summer months. Goodluck demonstrated silversmithing and his wife, Yekanasbah, worked as the resident Navajo rug weaver.

William Goodluck and family inside "The Indian" trading post. — *This photograph was taken inside “The Indian” trading post, where Goodluck is shown working silver while his wife, Yekanasbah, weaves at her loom and their children spin and card the wool.*

Goodluck continued his employment with Strausenback in 1929 when Charles opened his own Trading Post on the southern edge of Garden of the Gods park.

The porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children near him.

According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article dated June, 9, 1929, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,”

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [in 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Hand tinted postcard of William Goodluck and family at Cheyenne Lodge 1930. — *Strausenback sometimes brought William Goodluck, Yekanasbah and family to work at the Cheyenne Lodge where Strausenback managed the curio shop in 1930.*

Strausenback took a number of souvenir photographs of the Goodluck family, while they were at “The Indian” trading post and then again shortly after Garden of the Gods Trading Post opened in 1929. Goodluck continued to work for Strausenback into the 1930s.

William Goodluck and two of his children on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post in 1935. — *Photo of William Goodluck at the anvil on the porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post published in the* Denver Post *June 16, 1935.* Courtesy Garden of the Gods Trading Post.

Hoske Nal Wooty was born about 1891 around Lupton, Arizona. He attended the Navajo Training School at Ft. Defiance from 1905-1908 and then in 1909 was enrolled at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania by his mother, Mrs. Good Luck. After enrollment it was noted in his student records that he “wants to be called Wm. Goodluck,” and Superintendent Friedman agreed he should be called by that name. His student records for the years 1909-1912 can be accessed at the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. By 1920 he added the middle name Patrick and became known as William Patrick Goodluck in official documents.

While attending Carlisle, Goodluck apprenticed as a carpenter and between terms participated in the Summer Outing Program, where jobs and boarding in local homes or businesses was arranged for students allowing them to learn labor or farm skills and interact with the white world. From 1909-1910 he worked for Amos Krusen of Newtown, Pennsylvania and from 1910-1911 he worked for Joseph P. Canby of Hulmeville.

Under the employment of Canby it was noted, “Haski seems to be well pleased with his country home. He said he did not care if he returned to Carlisle in the fall or remained out.” On July 5, 1912 it was reported that, “He is a good earnest faithful worker. He has had experience living on good farms, also in the carpenter shop. Under the proper supervision he would make a good helper to a carpenter.” But he was to follow in his famous father’s footsteps.

Though he likely learned to work silver from his father Hosteen Goodluck, the first mention of William working as a silversmith is in the Carlisle records where on February 4, 1914 it was reported that he was working at that trade in Manuelito, New Mexico.

Anthropologist John Adair reported in his book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths that in 1938 the “Goodluck outfit” was situated near Lupton, Arizona and that Billy Goodluck made approximately $1000 working year-round, Adair considered silversmiths of that caliber to be professional. Adair also referred to William as “Billy Goodluck,” as that seems to be the name the reservation traders knew him by, consequently, William has been known as Billy ever since.

Goodluck worked silver for many decades and attained a reputation as a master silversmith, when not in Colorado he worked from his home in Arizona. John D. Kennedy describes William in his book A Good Trade: Three Generations of Life and Trading in and around Gallup, NM:

Billy Goodluck was a fine Navajo silversmith who lived twenty miles west of Gallup, near Lupton, Arizona. He would come to see me in Zuni for piecework. I would give him about 200 ounces of silver and he would return in a few weeks with finished goods. He made fine, large concho belts that were very popular trade items with Navajos, Zunis and reservation traders.

Goodluck registered for the draft on April 21, 1942 at Ft. Defiance, his place of residence was listed as Houck, Arizona, but it appears he never served in the military. In 1958 William Goodluck served as the first president of the newly formed Navajo Chapter at Lupton. He died October 1967 near his home in Lupton.

No confirmed identification hallmark has been recorded for William Goodluck. Though Barton Wright included a drawing of a comb-like hallmark in the Second Edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest, there is currently no evidence that William Goodluck used this or any other personal hallmark. However work he made while employed by Charles Strausenback would be stamped with the shop marks used at “The Indian” (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE AT THE “INDIAN” GARDEN OF THE GODS-COLO) or Garden of the Gods Trading Post (SOLID SILVER HAND MADE BY INDIANS, or the Tewa Thunderbird logo).

A biography of William’s father Hosteen Goodluck can be found at the bottom of the blog To Be (Hosteen) or Not To Be, That is the Question.

Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte Goodluck stand outside of "The Indian" trading post. — From left to right, Herbert, Elizabeth and Charlotte—the children of William and Yekanasbah Goodluck—stand outside the ramada where their father made silver at “The Indian” trading post. On the ground are spoons and bracelets in progress and the silversmithing tools that William used. This c. 1925 photograph was taken by Charles Strausenback for his series of advertising postcards.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog May 27, 2019.

To Be (Hosteen), or Not To Be, That is the Question…

Recently the work of Navajo silversmith Hosteen Goodluck was the topic of discussion in one of the online jewelry forums. So, we proudly posted a concho (which has been converted to a belt buckle) that, when it was purchased decades ago, had been attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by trusted associates and knowledgeable dealers of Indian jewelry, including the late Jay Evetts. We were so confident of the attribution that we published the buckle in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry as that of Hosteen Goodluck.

Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of Reassessing Hallmarks. — *Concho attributed to Hosteen Goodluck as it appears on page 15 of* Reassessing Hallmarks.

But even before that it was published on page 164 of American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies under the listing for Hosteen Goodluck:

Concho above published in American Indian Jewelry I: 1,200 Artist Biographies.

You can imagine our astonishment then when we were bluntly, and embarrassingly, made aware by those who consider themselves experts on Goodluck’s work that the buckle was definitely not made by Hosteen Goodluck. Notably, one dealer who attributed the buckle to Goodluck over 20 years ago now says they find no evidence to support that designation. Which was extremely discouraging.

To understand how our concho suddenly became the work of any other Navajo silversmith except Goodluck, we politely asked what defines Goodluck’s work; what was their source to judge his techniques, his skill, or use of design elements? None of those who proclaimed themselves extremely knowledgeable in Goodluck’s work were forthcoming with evidence why their pieces were by Goodluck, but ours wasn’t. They only pointed to work they attributed to Goodluck asking, “can’t you see the difference?” Truthfully, yes we could see the difference, but struggled with discerning how they were so certain of their conclusions.

So how would the work of Hosteen Goodluck, who died in 1937, be identified when that artist never signed his work or used a hallmark? Who can credibly attest to what Hosteen Goodluck’s silverwork looks like? Attributing silverwork made in the early part of the twentieth century, at a time when silversmith’s names were rarely attached to their work in any meaningful way, is a slippery slope without a hallmark, or some proof to back it up.

Due to the absence of clarification, we decided to do our own homework and went looking for the primary source, provenance, proof, or “smoking gun” that provided the facts for discerning the work of Hosteen Goodluck. We searched for something like a concho belt in a museum collection with solid provenance, or a photo of Goodluck hammering conchos to back up the attributions. There’s not much available online, nor in the books in our library, but we did finally find a primary resource from 1975, and it was right under our noses all along.

Sotheby Parke Bernet 1975 auction catalog for the C.G. Wallace collection of American Indian Art.

Yes, the C.G. Wallace Collection of American Indian Art catalog from the Sotheby Parke Bernet auction conducted in November 1975 has not one, not two, but six illustrated concho belts attributed to Hosteen Goodluck.

*Concho belts, numbers 59 and 61, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Numbers 387 and 389, attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

*Concho belts 548 and 1091 attributed to Hosteen Goodluck by C.G. Wallace in the 1975 auction catalog.*

Now, it’s hard to argue with Wallace’s attributions, afterall, he was there working with the silversmiths from 1919 until 1964 or so. But it’s also difficult not to fault his memory, or record keeping, when some of his attributions in the catalog are now known to be so inaccurate. For example, two of the items attributed to Navajo silversmith Etsitty Tsosie (or Eskiesosie, Wallace’s corruption of the name), bracelet #691 and a “Zuni comb” #1141, were said to have been made in 1943 and 1955 respectively. However, Etsitty Tsosie died in 1937 and his passing made national headlines. This raises the question, are these merely typos in the catalog, or lapses in Wallace’s memory?

Number 1141 from the CG Wallace catalog.

From the Oakland Tribune June 24, 1937. — *From the* Oakland Tribune *June 24, 1937.*

To complicate matters, we recently stumbled upon a tidbit of gossip from years ago. We had always heard from old-time collectors of inconsistencies in the catalog’s attributions, but never saw any written confirmation of the rumors. The quote below is from someone who was actively collecting Zuni jewelry in 1975 and acquainted with those involved in the catalog.

Bob Ashton said when he and his wife Sharon did the catalog it took nine painful months because C.G. kept changing his mind on who made what pieces. Ashton said there are a lot of inconsistencies in that catalog.

But we digress.

So what do these six concho belts tell us about the work made by Hosteen Goodluck? If Wallace’s attributions can be trusted, then Goodluck was a silversmith with very diverse skills and techniques, because the design elements are different in each of the six belts. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find commonality in these six examples.

Was Hosteen Goodluck a master silversmith? Undoubtedly, as Ruth Falkenburg Kirk reported that by 1920 Goodluck was recognized as one of “the most expert and best known Indian smiths.”

We remain skeptical how these experts are so confident that they are the only ones who know every style of work, technique, and design element that Goodluck used, especially since they refuse to reveal their research to back-up their claims.

And, by the way, as we see it, concho belt #389 in the Wallace catalog is close enough in construction (at least from what we can see in the photograph) to actually support the earlier attribution that our concho was made by Hosteen Goodluck.

This incident exemplifies why we largely collect only hallmarked metalwork by Native American silversmiths; because a hallmark assures us of the maker of the piece and we am not dependent on some ephemeral attribution from a dealer who may, or may not, have done as much research as we have on the subject.

Hosteen Goodluck

Hosteen Goodluck was born, in what was to become the southern part of the Navajo Reservation, about 1865 and died March 26, 1937 according to the U.S. Indian Census Rolls. He was photographed June 6, 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri where he demonstrated Navajo silversmithing, Navajo Man Good Luck.

arry Frank published this 1904 image in Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills. — *Larry Frank published this 1904 image in* Indian Silver Jewelry of the Southwest, 1868-1930 on page 28, but was unaware the subject was silversmith Hosteen Goodluck. The silver squash blossom necklace and concho belt he wears in this image serves as excellent proof of his silversmithing skills.

Goodluck worked for C. G. Wallace from 1919 to 1932 according to the auction catalog, and Wallace told Dale Stuart King in 1976 (Indian Silverwork, Volume Two), “Hosteen Goodluck was making heavy stamped leaves on bracelets and belt buckles in 1919. I moved Goodluck from Houck, Arizona, to Zuni to do cast work and as die maker.”

In 1929 Goodluck traveled to Colorado Springs to work for Charles Strausenback at Garden of the Gods Trading Post, he joined his son William Goodluck, who had worked for Strausenback in the preceding summers at another nearby trading post. According to a Colorado Springs Gazette article, “Indians Transplanted to Garden of the Gods in Strausenback’s New Trading Post,” dated June, 9, 1929,

Four adult Navajos, a Navajo baby in its carriage and a family of Santa Claras are living at the Trading Post in Indian fashion. There are two hogans where the Indians live. In the Trading Post they weave blankets, work in silver and with the Indian’s choice gem, the turquoise. Heading the redskin delegation is old Hosteen and his son, Bill Goodluck. Hosteen is one of the old types of Indian silver workers, distaining modern bench conveniences for the methods of his forefathers. Hosteen and his son were in a party of Navajos at the Buffalo Exposition [September 1901] when President McKinley, a few hours before he was the victim of an assassin, stopped to talk to the Indians. Asking them their name he caught the Navajos phrase as “good luck” and the family adopted the name thereafter.

Porch of Garden of the Gods Trading Post ca. 1929, Porfilia and Severo Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo) are far left, Hosteen Goodluck sits on the porch, William Goodluck sits at a stump, with his wife and children around him.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 15, 2018.

Navajo Overlay Artist Willie Yazzie

After the success of the overlay designs made at the Hopi Guild many other silversmiths and shops incorporated overlay in their designs (see Overlay is Not Always Hopi Made). Navajo trader Dean Kirk opened his own trading post at Manuelito, New Mexico (between Gallup and the Arizona border) by January 1941. The silver work made in Dean’s shop was typically Navajo tourist type designs and hallmarked UITA22 (under the auspices of the United Indian Traders Association) until about 1951. That’s when Kirk designed a series of overlay pins to be made by Navajo smiths in his employ incorporating Hohokam and Mimbres designs. These designs proved to be very popular, as a 1958 newspaper advertisement for Enchanted Mesa in Albuquerque promoted “Dean Kirk’s Navajo Overlay Silver”. The overlay pieces made at Kirk’s shop were rarely hallmarked.

*Overlay pin featuring Hohokam pottery design made by Navajo silversmiths for trader Dean Kirk, 1950s.*

However, one of the Navajo silversmiths who worked for Dean Kirk was Willie Yazzie, he made his own hallmark and used it on pieces he made in Kirk’s shop.

*Willie Yazzie’s gourd dipper hallmark.*

Much of the following information was relayed to Alan Ferg (archivist and archaeologist at Arizona State Museum) by William P. (Willie) Yazzie, Jr, in February 2018. Ferg’s investigation of an overlay belt buckle in his possession, lacking a hallmark, has led to previously unrecorded information about Willie Yazzie, as well as the identification of an additional hallmark used by the artist.

Willie Yazzie made the overlay bolo at Dean Kirk’s shop, it includes a deer and stylized Hopi designs; a small piece of turquoise is inlaid flush in the deer’s body. His Navajo wedding basket pin incorporates a small piece of copper to symbolize the red band in traditional wedding baskets.

*Hallmarked belt buckle by Willie Yazzie, 1950s, with appliquéd Pueblo bird design utilizes more background, or negative space, than design.*

*Back of the Pueblo bird belt buckle above showing Willie Yazzie’s hallmark.*

According to Social Security records, Willie A. Yazzie was born at Chinle, Arizona in 1928. His son says he learned silverwork at Dean Kirk’s trading post in Manuelito in the early 1950s, and created his touchmark (or hallmark) no later than 1960, and after that time his pieces made at Dean Kirk’s would have included his gourd dipper hallmark. His designs often incorporated animal figures such as roadrunners or Navajo designs including Yeis and Father Sky. He never added “tamp work,” or a textured pattern to the background designs.

*Bracelet with appliqué swirl design made by Navajo silversmith Willie Yazzie for trader Dean Kirk.*

In 1960 Ansel Hall, concessionaire at Mesa Verde National Park, was looking for a silversmith to demonstrate at the park during the summers months, Dean Kirk recommended Willie Yazzie and he was hired by Hall. Willie worked at Mesa Verde in the summers from 1960 to 1983, except for 1965 when he was sick. Yazzie created a special hallmark to denote pieces he made at Mesa Verde. The mark depicts Square Tower House, a ruin within the park, and was included with his gourd dipper mark during the summers of 1960-1964 and 1966-1983.

*This salt spoon was made by Willie Yazzie while he worked at Mesa Verde National Park during the summers of 1960-1983, as indicated by the hallmarks on the back. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

*Hallmarks on the back of the salt spoon above by Willie Yazzie includes his medicine dipper touchmark and the Square Tower House mark for work made at Mesa Verde National Park. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

*Another image of Willie Yazzie’s gourd dipper hallmark with the Square Tower House mark for work made at Mesa Verde National Park. Courtesy Bille Hougart.*

Willie A. Yazzie died in 1999, but his family, including his widow, daughter and Willie Jr continue the tradition of Willie’s overlay work. Willie Jr said that his sister has most of their father’s tools and stamps, and that she still uses the gourd dipper mark. Willie uses mostly his initials as his hallmark, but doesn’t do much silverwork anymore, he is retired from the National Park Service where he was a ranger at Canyon de Chelly. Willie, who lives in Chinle, said his sons do a little silversmithing, but that they are busy and don’t have much time for it.

*Overlay pin by Willie Yazzie. Courtesy Karen Leblanc.*

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog July 20, 2018.

John Silver Never Worked at Vaughn’s

To be clear, Navajo silversmith John Silver, the owner of the star hallmark found on many silver and copper butterflies (and other exceptional jewelry) never worked for Reese Vaughn at any of his locations. Our research has found no connection between John Silver and Vaughn’s Indian Store. That is not to imply that further research, or as yet undiscovered resources, may one day indicate otherwise.

Copper and silver butterfly pins by John Silver.

The assumption that John Silver worked at Vaughn’s Indian Store seems to have originated in a design decision in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government that we never imagined would result in any confusion.

In March 2008, after attending the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Pat and I unexpectedly ended the debate about whether to have the jewelry in our next project professionally photographed, or take the photos ourselves, when we stopped at a Phoenix camera shop to obtain a static-free lint brush and instead walked out with a Nikon digital camera and a home studio set-up.

During our initial efforts to photograph our own collection, with only a hazy vision of the final publication, we grouped four hallmarked butterfly pins into a single photograph. It turned out to be a visually appealing image, but the hallmarks on the pieces were diverse; two were signed with the same star hallmark, one marked with a knifewing figure, and another signed VAUGHN’S. At the time of the photograph only the Vaughn’s shop mark had a clear attribution, we still needed to research the other two marks.

Four butterfly pins with different hallmarks.

The star mark on the silver and copper butterflies, a five-pointed star with a raised circle in the center, had given us grief from the first time we saw it.

We had trouble accepting the general consensus that the mark belonged to Harold Koruh (Hopi) or to Dan Simplicio (Zuni). Neither attribution felt right as the work was nothing like we would expect from Koruh, a Hopi who learned in the GI Bill classes under Paul Saufkie; nor Simplicio who most often worked with stone settings. The Koruh attribution sprang from the star hallmark illustrated in Margaret Wright’s Hopi Silver:

Harold Koruh entry in Margaret Wright's Hopi Silver.

And the Simplicio attribution from Barton Wright’s Hallmarks of the Southwest:

Dan Simplicio entry in Barton Wright's Hallmarks of the Southwest.

Though neither drawing was a match to the star hallmark in question, there wasn’t any evidence that it belonged to any other silversmith.

After some time, and discussions with Russell Hartman—then Collections Manager for the Anthropology Department at California Academy of Sciences—we discovered the star hallmark on those butterflies had been documented in the Elkus Collection as that of John Silver (Navajo), found at this link Collections Database listing for CAS 0370-1646. The Elkus Collection, as discussed in previous blogs, is one of the most thoroughly documented collections of Indian art ever assembled.

Supporting our attribution of John Silver for the star mark on butterflies were actual examples of Dan Simplicio’s hallmark, only available after the proliferation of digital cameras, which confirmed his mark to be very similar, yet different from the one we had.

Finally, the last hallmark in our grouping of four butterflies, the knifewing with GALLUP in the center, was identified as that of Gallup Mercantile with the help of Jay Evetts.

After lengthy research it finally came time to write the manuscript. We had enough information on Vaughn’s Indian Store to not only include the shop mark, but also a couple of paragraphs about the owner Reese Vaughn and a few of the silversmiths who worked there. We had two photographs that each contained different versions of the Vaughn’s shop mark, so it felt natural to place them with the text. Unfortunately, this didn’t allow the two marks not associated with Vaughn’s to speak for themselves.

Here is page 48 from the book as the publisher designed it:

Page 48 from Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry.

With the caption:

Caption from page 48 or the image above.

As you can see, we never actually wrote anywhere that John Silver worked at Vaughn’s. But we now see that having his hallmark on the same page devoted to the history of Vaughn’s Indian Store implied that he did. We regret the unfortunate misperception that this has caused.

As for John Silver, he has been challenging to pin down. It is possible that he could have also gone by the names John Etcitty, or John/Johnny Silversmith, who worked at Zion National Park and Garden of the Gods Trading Post. However, listed in the appendix of Navajo silversmiths working in 1938 in John Adair’s Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths, are two John Silversmiths and one John Silver. Unfortunately it may be impossible to ever know exactly which of these may have used the star hallmark.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog May 28, 2018.

Roanhorse and Lincoln: Two Very Different Ambroses

Since the publication of Hallmarks of the Southwest in 1989 Ambrose Lincoln and Ambrose Roanhorse have been unfortunately described as the same person, which has caused their jewelry to be misidentified for decades. In fact, they were two distinctly different individuals. Although both were Navajo silversmiths, Lincoln was more than a decade younger than Roanhorse and worked in a different style.

So how did this happen?

In the beginning Ambrose Lincoln and Ambrose Roanhorse were listed separately, and on the same page, in the appendix of Navajo silversmiths working in 1940 in John Adair’s book The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths:

In 1980 Mark Bahti published Collecting Southwestern Native American Jewelry, and incorporated an appendix of hallmarks for many prominent Native American silversmiths. He included the mark for Ambrose Lincoln:

Ambrose Lincoln mark in Mark Bahti's book.

But something went wrong during Barton Wright’s research for Hallmarks of the Southwest and he wasn’t able to discern that Roanhorse and Lincoln were two different people:

Lincoln/Roanhorse in Barton Wright's book.

Barton Wright made no corrections and continued to confuse the two Ambrose’s in the second edition of Hallmarks of the Southwest.

Wright’s entry of Roanhorse and/or Lincoln was debated among dealers and collectors for years, with the conclusion that they must have been two different silversmiths. Unfortunately once something appears in print it is then considered gospel and nearly impossible to correct.

Jonathan Batkin divulged much biographical information about Ambrose Roanhorse in his 2008 publication The Native American Curio Trade In New Mexico, also observing that John Adair’s field notes of 1940 identified Ambrose Lincoln as working at Zuni, and provided irrefutable evidence Roanhorse and Lincoln were not the same person.

Still the question remained, did Roanhorse sign with the A-in-keystone hallmark? If not, then how did he hallmark his work? The problem was solved when California Academy of Sciences made their collections database available via the Internet. CAS is in possession of the Elkus Collection, one of the most thoroughly documented collections of Indian art from the 1940s/50s era. In the collection are ten pieces of Roanhorse’s jewelry, three of which are hallmarked, here is a link to the Ambrose Roanhorse items in their collection, CAS Collections Database.

Once representative pieces of work with both hallmarks could be compared side-by-side it didn’t take much to figure out the rightful owner of each hallmark.

It is now abundantly apparent that Ambrose Roanhorse used a stick figure of a horse with his initials AR forming the legs…

Ambrose Roanhorse hallmark. — *Courtesy Karen Sires.*

and that Ambrose Lincoln signed his work with a capital A inside a keystone shaped design.

To further the argument, below are signed pieces of work by both men and a discussion of their styles and skills.

Ambrose Roanhorse was one of the most influential Navajo silversmiths of his time and became famous for hand wrought, traditional old style Navajo silver. When he used stone settings they usually consisted of one large stone set in the center of the piece. He was considered a master of his craft and won many awards for his hand wrought work; his plain silver concho belt took a first place ribbon at the 1956 Gallup Ceremonial. His work was highly prized and compared favorably alongside the highest quality master silversmiths of the time including Georg Jensen. While many pieces of his work do not bear his hallmark, they are distinctive for his use of bold, simple design and high quality of workmanship.

Here are two typical plain silver pieces made by Ambrose Roanhorse.

Silver fabricated bracelet by Ambrose Roanhorse in the style known as “Indian School” for its simplicity and for evoking the early phases of Navajo silverwork. Courtesy Karen Sires.

Silver concho pin by Ambrose Roanhorse. Courtesy Karen Sires.

Ambrose Lincoln, on the other hand, worked in the Gallup/Zuni area for C.G. Wallace and Charles Kelsey, among others, and most commonly produced cast silver pieces, often with turquoise channel inlay. At the 1956 Gallup Ceremonial, mentioned earlier in connection with Roanhorse, Lincoln won a second place grand prize for a bracelet with channel work inlay that was a collaboration with Zuni lapidarist Lambert Homer; thus establishing that Lincoln was an excellent silversmith in his own right.

Illustrated below are two pieces by Ambrose Lincoln.

Necklace by Ambrose Lincoln with sand cast Yei figures and Zuni turquoise channel inlay. Courtesy Karen Sires.

Fabricated bracelet by Ambrose Lincoln, with turquoise settings. Courtesy Karen Sires.

So, as we made clear in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry, Lincoln’s jewelry, though good, should not be mistaken for Roanhorse’s (who was considered a master silversmith) nor should it command the same value as Roanhorse’s.

Following are short biographies of Roanhorse and Lincoln, more information is available in Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry.

Ambrose Roanhorse

Ambrose Roanhorse was born about 1904 near Ganado, Arizona and started learning silverwork at the age of nine by helping his grandfather, the famed early silversmith Peshlakai. Roanhorse moved to Santa Fe about 1928 where he worked at Southwest Arts and Crafts as a silversmith. He was hired as the first instructor for the silversmithing classes at the Santa Fe Indian School, where he taught hand forging methods from 1931 to 1939.

In 1936 Roanhorse became involved with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board’s program for promoting (and hallmarking) hand made Indian jewelry and in turn became Kenneth Chapman’s assistant, inspecting and stamping the jewelry that was submitted.

In 1939 Roanhorse was selected as director of the Wingate Guild, and left Santa Fe for the headquarters at the Wingate Vocational School. In 1941 the guild expanded to become the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, where he served as assistant manager for a few years.

In 1954 Roanhorse was one of twelve American Indian artists honored (additionally Dorothy Dunn Kramer, an Anglo art teacher was honored) by the French government, awarded with the Ordre des Palmes Académiques, the French Republic Award for his distinguished achievements in silver work.

After retirement from the Bureau of Indian Affairs he continued to teach silversmithing at various venues. Roanhorse passed away in 1982 and is buried in St. Michael’s, AZ.

Ambrose Lincoln

Ambrose Lincoln was born in 1917, and graduated from Wingate Vocational High School in 1939, the term before Roanhorse became an instructor there. Ironically, Lincoln worked as the silversmithing instructor at Santa Fe Indian School in 1942, three years after Roanhorse left the position to work with the Navajo Guild.

Lincoln worked primarily in the Zuni and Gallup areas, in the 1940s for C.G. Wallace and Charles Kelsey.

Ambrose Lincoln died in 1989 and is buried in Gallup, NM.

Update August 2019: These hallmarks have been properly identified in the third and fourth editions of Bille Hougart’s Native American and Southwestern Silver Hallmarks.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog April 3, 2016.

Caveat Emptor

Definition of Caveat Emptor from the Cornell University Law School web site:

Latin for “let the buyer beware.” A doctrine that often places on buyers the burden to reasonably examine property before purchase and take responsibility for its condition. Especially applicable to items that are not covered under a strict warranty.

And even more applicable to vintage, pawn or antique American Indian jewelry.

There is a distressing recent trend in the vintage American Indian jewelry market – that of applying faked hallmarks of highly collectible silversmiths to jewelry of dubious quality. This trend started some years ago with the fabrication of jewelry in the style of Charles Loloma to which fraudulent hallmarks were applied. That nearly ruined the market for Loloma’s jewelry as dealers and collectors that had been burned by fakes were (and still are) leery to consider investing again. And with good reason, those fakes will haunt the market for decades to come.

Example of fraudulent Charles Loloma hallmark. — *Above: Example of fraudulent Charles Loloma hallmark*.

Now this practice has extended to the application of fraudulent hallmarks of other important silversmiths, such as Ike Wilson, Fred Peshlakai, Preston Monongye and Frank Patania, to jewelry of poor quality, and often made by Anglo silversmiths.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time fake Indian jewelry has flooded the market. Starting in the early 1900s and continuing for decades, the mass-production of machine made Indian style jewelry made companies like H.H. Tammen, Arrow Novelty Company, Silver Products, Bell Trading Company and Maisel’s financially successful while the native artists struggled.

Those who remember the “Boom” of the 1970s are also familiar with the reproductions of traditional Navajo silver by hippie silversmiths from the Pagosa Springs, Colorado region and the proliferation of Anglo made Indian style jewelry. Few of these pieces were hallmarked so many have passed, and continue to pass, as “old pawn.”

Also memorable was the preponderance of counterfeit Navajo spoons, most often in the style featuring the profile of an Indian in a headdress on the handle or with the word NAVAJO etched in the bowl, after the publication of Navajo Spoons in 2001. While fake Hopi overlay, with contrived hallmarks, and fake Zuni inlay, copied from vintage issues of Arizona Highways magazine have been imported from international (off shore and south of the border) locations, and sold online and in disreputable shops for over a decade.

Previously buyers could be assured of the authenticity of a piece if it bore the hallmark of a recognized artist, and it didn’t require them to have a great deal of knowledge about the history of Indian jewelry to feel comfortable investing in high quality jewelry. But now it’s becoming common to see hallmarked jewelry misrepresented as that of some of the most respected and highly collectible silversmiths. This doesn’t even take into account the misattributions by uninformed, or overly optimistic sellers, a practice which is rampant on eBay and internet auction sites.

eBay is no help in these matters. As much lip service as they give to stopping counterfeiters from selling through their website, they make it inordinately difficult for buyers to report sellers of fakes. One shouldn’t need to jump through hoops, nor spend hours on the phone, to advise eBay that someone is profiting from selling counterfeits on their platform. Even more frustrating is that spurious listings are rarely ended by eBay even after they have been reported.

So how can collectors protect themselves when thousands of dollars can be at risk on a single bracelet? First, caution is the key to online transactions, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. But most importantly, buyers should educate themselves and become familiar with the styles and workmanship of the silversmiths they wish to purchase. Faked jewelry will often not resemble the work of the masters in either style or quality. For collectors, working with a trusted dealer is essential in gaining the knowledge necessary to make informed purchases.

The artists whose hallmarks are currently being forged are deceased (convenient for the forgers), and their work commands top dollar. These artists did not become so respected, and their jewelry so highly valued, because they produced inferior work. These artists made jewelry of the highest quality. Contrary to opinions that even great silversmiths had bad days, substandard work is the hallmark of the amateur, inexperienced, or sloppy silversmith. Poor quality silverwork or low grade and treated stones should raise red flags right away that the artist was not a skilled silversmith.

The only way to combat the fakers is through knowledgeable buyers. Once everyone sees their forgeries for what they are, and their market dries up, then they will stop counterfeiting Indian jewelry and move on to something more profitable (and hopefully something you don’t collect).

Examples of recent forged hallmarks

NOT a hallmark used by Bernard Dawahoya.

NOT a hallmark used by Preston Monongye #1.

NOT a hallmark used by Preston Monongye #2.

NOT the shop mark used by Frank Patania or the Thunderbird Shop.

A poor attempt to fake the hallmark of Morris Robinson. — **Updated Dec 27, 2015** = Here’s a new one, a poor attempt to fake the hallmark of Morris Robinson.

**Updated May, 17, 2016** = This is definitely NOT the hallmark used by Hopi Harold Koruh.

By adding an H it make sit appear to be a hallmark used by an early Hopi silversmith…again, NOT Harold Koruh's hallmark. — And this is even more inventive, adding the H to make it appear to be a hallmark used by an early Hopi silversmith…again, NOT Harold Koruh’s hallmark.

Originally published on our Goodreads.com blog December 10, 2014.